Various designs gave been proposed in the prior art for placing a straw within a beverage container that becomes accessible to the user when the beverage container is opened. Some of the prior art designs rely upon the user to manipulate the container after it has been opened to align the straw with the opening. Once aligned, the buoyancy of the straw and/or a float extend the straw through the opening. Still other prior art designs include a mechanism which locates the straw within the container. The act of opening the container imparts a force and/or motion to the mechanism which then positions the straw in line with the opening. Again, buoyant forces acting on the straw extend the straw through the opening once it has been aligned.
While the prior art straw dispensing mechanisms remain technologically and commercially viable, the continued development of these systems has been directed to lowering the complexity and costs associated with these mechanisms while simultaneously maintaining and/or improving upon the reliability of these mechanisms.